Wireless Home Netwok recommendations

Hi, 1 ME PC, 1 Win200pro laptop, both with 56k modems.
I have had them networked in the past with wire, now I want to go wireless,
may want to use pc's internet connection while sitting in the lazyboy in the
lounge.
Recommendations on hardware and any pitfalls for a wireless newbie please

--
Cheers
Southern Kiwisouthern_kiwi@*spamsucks*hotmail.com
Word of wisdom from high in the mountains....you know...like a Guru...but
not as old....or mystic......or wise....or high...

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Southern Kiwi wrote:
> Hi, 1 ME PC, 1 Win200pro laptop, both with 56k modems.
> I have had them networked in the past with wire, now I want to go wireless,
> may want to use pc's internet connection while sitting in the lazyboy in the
> lounge.
> Recommendations on hardware and any pitfalls for a wireless newbie please

I have a DSE wireless 802.11b/g access point and two x DSE 802,11b
wireless PCI cards.

I had to buy the optional 7dBi di-pole antenna for all three in order to
get a good enough signal to be reliable at the distances I have (10-15
metres - through one or two wooden walls).

The cards are cheap - $68? and the AP was $260-ish. The antennae were
$50 each.

The AP is connected to the LAN switch that in turn is connected to my
DSE ADSL router.

"Southern Kiwi" <southern_kiwi@*spamsucks*hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:...
> Hi, 1 ME PC, 1 Win200pro laptop, both with 56k modems.
> I have had them networked in the past with wire, now I want to go
wireless,
> may want to use pc's internet connection while sitting in the lazyboy in
the
> lounge.
> Recommendations on hardware and any pitfalls for a wireless newbie please
>
> --
> Cheers
> Southern Kiwi
> southern_kiwi@*spamsucks*hotmail.com
> Word of wisdom from high in the mountains....you know...like a Guru...but
> not as old....or mystic......or wise....or high...
>
>

Southern Kiwi wrote:
> Hi, 1 ME PC, 1 Win200pro laptop, both with 56k modems.
> I have had them networked in the past with wire, now I want to go wireless,
> may want to use pc's internet connection while sitting in the lazyboy in the
> lounge.
> Recommendations on hardware and any pitfalls for a wireless newbie please

Dont bother trying ad-hoc mode, instead get an accesspoint and cable it to the
desktops ethernet, You may need a crossover cable, but all the APs I have used
have being autocrossover so you may not. This also means you can position the AP
better if your computer is at one end of the house and you want to cover the
whole house you can ethernet to the middle and put the AP high up on a shelf or
something.

PCMCIA or USB for the laptop, unless you have an available mini-pci slot on the
laptop, which is the best way to go as it gives the antennas another 200-250mm
of height which makes a big difference.

I am using a dlink access point with a pcmcia dlink650+ and a pcmcia
Orinoco (for linux). I get somewhat more than that in range, but not
hugely probably 15~20+ metres and thats through a floor and 2 or 3 walls
at the worst point. At $68 though I have to say the DSE units are cheap.

Anybody used them on Linux?

I would like to test a DSE pcmcia one at some point and see if its the
card or the access point at issue (or both) for the poor range. The
d-link access point is about the same cost as the DSE one so, if we
could run a dlink point with cheap pcmcia DSE cards anbd get about the
same range as the expensive pcmcia ones.......

I like the dlink access point because it can filter on MAC addresses so
you have a few levels of security.

Security would be an issue, the dlink units have 256bit encryption not
128 (though the orinoco is 128bit). I then run IPSEC VPN between my
laptop (RedHat Linux) and my Firewall (Debian) at 2048bit encyption, it
then routes to the Internet via Paraddise cable modem.

So look for,

1) An access point that does MAC filtering as your first line of defence.
2) A minimum of 128bit encryption, preferably 256bit, in fact I'd not go
less than 256bit.
3) Some sort of return if its performance sucks, at least with DSE you
have a 7 day right of return.
4) An access point that you can add a bigger antenna to, or an
amplifier, ie a BNC screw fitting.

regards

Thing

steve wrote:
> Southern Kiwi wrote:
>
>> Hi, 1 ME PC, 1 Win200pro laptop, both with 56k modems.
>> I have had them networked in the past with wire, now I want to go
>> wireless,
>> may want to use pc's internet connection while sitting in the lazyboy
>> in the
>> lounge.
>> Recommendations on hardware and any pitfalls for a wireless newbie please
>
>
> I have a DSE wireless 802.11b/g access point and two x DSE 802,11b
> wireless PCI cards.
>
> I had to buy the optional 7dBi di-pole antenna for all three in order to
> get a good enough signal to be reliable at the distances I have (10-15
> metres - through one or two wooden walls).
>
> The cards are cheap - $68? and the AP was $260-ish. The antennae were
> $50 each.
>
> The AP is connected to the LAN switch that in turn is connected to my
> DSE ADSL router.
>
> So I have the option to be wired - or not - as it suits me.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>

thing wrote:
> That range sounds awful....but typical...
>
> I am using a dlink access point with a pcmcia dlink650+ and a pcmcia
> Orinoco (for linux). I get somewhat more than that in range, but not
> hugely probably 15~20+ metres and thats through a floor and 2 or 3 walls
> at the worst point. At $68 though I have to say the DSE units are cheap.

Its the walls, not the cards. Unless your walls are made of ricepaper which I
think there test houses are made of, they will really imhibit the range. I dont
know what the fibreglass insulation does for it, but gibboard kills signal. I go
from -20dB in netstumbler to less then -30 just by putting 4 layers of gib
between the 2 antennas, and thats with it going perpendicular to the gib, when
going thru floors its going at an angle thru the ceiling and the floor above it
so you are going to have a longer path thru the gib, add in some foil backed
insulation which is common in older houses and your lucky to get anything thru.
I need 3 aps to cover the house acceptably, 2 is passable, 1 is only any good if
its sitting on the top step so it can see both levels of the house.

Seconded ! The "b" ~$NZ65 DSE XH6822 & newer XH6859 (both actually
ZyDAS ZD1201's) have been found great performers, although both run
rather warm. NetStumbler 0.4 works as well, a fact used to great
advantage in designing the USB WiFi Chinese cookware antenna
=>www.usbwifi.orcon.net.nz - LOS ranges to several km !

Aside from the antenna,USB allows the WiFi device to be moved away
from the metal screening & electrical noise of a typical desktop. The
nature of indoors WiFi often means just shifting antenna/adaptors a
handspan or so will be "sweet spot" hell or heaven. We also manage
thru' several floors - including ferrocement ! Conclusion - at least
try USB WiFi,& in spite of earlier postings consider ad hoc as an
initial trial before you lash out on APs.

However given the "g" takeover,IEEE802.11b APs are almost now "free to
a good home" so perhaps cost effective. D-Link DWL-900AP+ "b" APs are
selling trade here in Wellington ~$150 ( mid 2004 ), & they've the
undocumented ability to both act as a repeater for ANY other AP (not
just similar D-Links ) & power boost via an easy hack. See
=>http://www.ralphfowler.com/links/dwl900.html

-{-astrae-}- wrote:
> I've found the 802.11G Dick smith stuff fine.
>
> Just get an Access point and a pcmcia wireless lan card.
>
> Connect the Access point directly to the ME pc via a cross over cable, or
> into a switch/hub.
>
> Setup the lan card in the laptop and your all go. Using internet sharing on
> the ME machine will share the net to the laptop.
>
> Make sure you enable the encryption.
>
> Im presuming you already know basic networking. (setting up the IP's etc..)
>
>
>

On a slightly related note, can anyone tell me what is the maximum
number of wireless connections that can be made to an Access Point
(concurrently) ?

DaveG <> wrote in
news::
> -{-astrae-}- wrote:
>> I've found the 802.11G Dick smith stuff fine.
>>
>> Just get an Access point and a pcmcia wireless lan card.
>>
>> Connect the Access point directly to the ME pc via a cross over
>> cable, or into a switch/hub.
>>
>> Setup the lan card in the laptop and your all go. Using internet
>> sharing on the ME machine will share the net to the laptop.
>>
>> Make sure you enable the encryption.
>>
>> Im presuming you already know basic networking. (setting up the IP's
>> etc..)
>>
>>
>>
>
>
> On a slightly related note, can anyone tell me what is the maximum
> number of wireless connections that can be made to an Access Point
> (concurrently) ?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Dave
>
>

Depends I suppose, but I have seen some that will theoretically support
256 Connections.

Dave - Dave.net.nz wrote:
> DaveG wrote:
>
>> On a slightly related note, can anyone tell me what is the maximum
>> number of wireless connections that can be made to an Access Point
>> (concurrently) ?
>
>
> depends on the AP... mine has a limit of 256, but umm, I havent tested
> that.
>

OK, thanks for that. I'm looking at setting up a classroom of laptops
and trying to avoid the lan cabling, but couldn't find any access point
specs that really answered the question.

DaveG wrote:
>>> On a slightly related note, can anyone tell me what is the maximum
>>> number of wireless connections that can be made to an Access Point
>>> (concurrently) ?
>> depends on the AP... mine has a limit of 256, but umm, I havent tested
>> that.
> OK, thanks for that. I'm looking at setting up a classroom of laptops
> and trying to avoid the lan cabling, but couldn't find any access point
> specs that really answered the question.

go for an 802.11G AP... even if you only have 802.11b gear in the
machines, the G AP will give you better signal and range.

In article <>,
DaveG <> wrote:>
> OK, thanks for that. I'm looking at setting up a classroom of laptops
> and trying to avoid the lan cabling, but couldn't find any access point
> specs that really answered the question.
>

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